MacKenzie Scott’s Latest Donation to Support Historically Black Colleges and Universities
MacKenzie Scott, a renowned philanthropist and former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has made a significant donation of $70 million to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. This generous gift brings Scott’s total donations to UNCF to $80 million, demonstrating her commitment to empowering these institutions and promoting education accessibility.
MacKenzie Scott has promised to dole out much of her fortune to charity. Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Supporting HBCUs and Promoting Education Accessibility
The $70 million donation will be used to boost the endowments of more than three dozen HBCUs, helping to address the significant funding gap between these institutions and non-HBCUs. According to UNCF, the endowments of HBCUs trail those of non-HBCUs by at least 70%. This gift is part of UNCF’s campaign to raise $1 billion, with the goal of strengthening HBCUs and promoting education accessibility.
Michael Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF, praised Scott’s donation, stating, “This extraordinary gift is a powerful vote of confidence in HBCUs and in the work of UNCF.” He added that the funding provides a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for UNCF’s member institutions to build permanent assets that will support students and campuses for decades to come.
A Commitment to Philanthropy and Education
MacKenzie Scott’s donation is a testament to her commitment to philanthropy and education. In 2019, she pledged to give the majority of her fortune to charity, and she has since made significant progress on this promise, donating nearly $20 billion to over 2,000 organizations in the past five years. Her gifts are often unrestricted, allowing recipient organizations to use the funds as needed, and have been shown to strengthen the long-term financial sustainability of these institutions.
Scott’s support for HBCUs is not limited to her recent donation. She has previously given $10 million to UNCF’s emergency reserve fund and has made significant gifts to individual HBCUs, including $45 million to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and $40 million to both Morgan State University and Norfolk State University.
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